G-20 nations divided over backing for Syria strike

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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (MarketWatch) — World leaders gathering for the Group of 20 summit remained divided over whether to back punitive military strikes on the Syrian regime, reflecting the domestic political concerns many of their leaders are facing.

President Barack Obama hopes to use the two-day G-20 gathering in St. Petersburg to shape an international consensus behind his call for a military assault aimed at deterring Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad from deploying chemical weapons in the future. But just as Congress is divided over authorizing a strike, the global community seems equally uncertain about what action to take.

Italy’s leader cautioned that a strike might lead to wider conflict. The head of the European Council ruled out a military solution. Germany is pushing to act through the International Criminal Court. Russia remains protective of a Syrian regime that is its longtime ally and weapons client.

And from Rome, Pope Francis urged leaders of the G-20 nations, the world’s largest economies, to avoid the “futile pursuit” of military action.

France is one of the few Western allies supporting a possible strike. President Francois Hollande hopes to get European leaders to coalesce around a summit statement Friday denouncing the Assad regime over chemical weapons.

“It’s really important that the Europeans present at the G-20 are on the same page in condemning the use of chemical arms and condemning the regime that used them,” Hollande said.

For Obama, the summit represents a fateful diplomatic moment. Should he fall short of assembling broad international backing and strike Assad with limited support, it could prove to be a setback for a president who won the Nobel Peace Prize in part for his commitment to multilateral action.

To win international support, U.S. officials will be arguing their case on Syria before a summit focused on global economic issues, said Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser.

“We believe it’s important for people to raise their voices on behalf of international norms that countries around the world have signed onto for many years,” Rhodes said.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said some world leaders doubted Obama would be able to limit military engagement to his stated aim of carrying out punitive strikes against the Assad regime for what the U.S. says is its use of chemical weapons in a massacre outside Damascus on Aug. 21.

“There are some who interpret this as the start of something of which we don’t know the end,” Letta said. “These are obviously two very different scenarios, and I’m sure that’s part of what’s blocking things and creating so much difficulty.”

Obama’s toughest obstacle is the summit host, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Frustrated by Russia’s lack of cooperation on Syria, as well as Moscow’s decision to grant former NSA contractor Edward Snowden temporary asylum, Obama canceled a meeting with Putin that had been scheduled in advance of the G-20.

The two men traded pleasantries at an arrival ceremony Thursday, shaking hands and smiling before cameras for a few seconds. It was a warmer display than the one at a summit in Northern Ireland in June, when Obama’s attempt to break the ice fell flat.

In a sign that the chill persists, Obama is privately meeting with Chinese, Japanese and French leaders but hasn’t scheduled an official meeting with Putin. But aides to both men said they may wind up talking on the summit’s sidelines.

Russia remains dubious of the Obama administration’s contention that the Assad regime gassed civilians in the prolonged Syrian civil war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking at a news briefing Thursday, reiterated Moscow’s doubts about the evidence presented by the U.S.

“We cannot accept evidence that in our opinion, such as it is, is far from being conclusive,” Peskov said. “We all are in need of conclusive and legitimate evidence.”

European Union officials strongly cautioned against military action in Syria at the outset of the summit.

“There is no military solution to the Syrian conflict,” European Council President Herman Van Rompuy told reporters. “Only a political solution can end the terrible bloodshed.”

Van Rompuy said he respected “calls for action” but said the response to the Syrian crisis had to move through the United Nations.

Efforts to do just that have failed, U.S. officials said. Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., declared in New York on Thursday that the world body was unable to act because of its “paralysis” and blamed Putin.

“There is no viable path forward in this Security Council,” she said.

The administration is planning alternative ways to win international backing. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend an EU meeting in Lithuania this weekend.

The State Department said Thursday that Australia, Albania, Kosovo, Canada, Denmark, France, Poland, Romania and Turkey have endorsed a military strike. In all, 30 countries have concluded the Assad regime was behind the Aug. 21 chemical attack, State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said.

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